A Plant Isn't Always Necessary
by JuseaPeterson
Summary: A Leo and Maya Christmas one shot.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

_Author's Note: Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukah or whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of year. A lot of these ideas I got help with from Meloda26 and my younger sister and nephew._

**A Plant Isn't Always Necessary**

Leo looked at the boxes debating which one to open first. He could take care of that, but since it wasn't freshly cut or anything did it matter if it was up first? He finally grabbed a box and started to open it when he heard a knock at his door. He found Maya there.

"Hey, come on in."

The girl clad in yellow walked in. She looked around and saw the boxes, "What are all those for?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah." Then it dawned on Leo that Maya had no clue what Christmas is. "It's a day we celebrated on Earth."

"What for?"

"For the birth of a very good guy, Jesus Christ."

"Oh." He could tell by the way Maya looked at him that she wanted a better explanation than that. So he went and got her the story to read. After she finished reading it she looked up at him, "That's cool."

"Yeah."

"So, why do you need all these boxes to celebrate?"

"They're decorations. To help get you in the Christmas spirit. Here I'll show you."

He brought her over to one of the boxes and pulled out a fake Christmas tree. He set it up in no time and then put it over by the window in the living room.

Maya raised an eyebrow, "That's not real."

"Well, I couldn't exactly get a real one could I?"

"I guess not."

Leo shrugged, "It's a tree, it'll work. Now we're going to decorate it." Leo brought out all kinds of ornaments and the two got the tree covered in no time. "There, looks good."

"What's this for?"

"That we set up over here on the mantle piece."

Maya followed Leo over to the fireplace and helped him set up a manger scene. There were animals, about 4 men, a woman and a baby. After they set it up—which Leo had done a particular way—Maya listened to who the people were and what was with that.

Maya soon discovered that she loved decorating. Changing the house so that it looked pretty was fun. She grabbed a long strand that Leo called garland. She decided to put it around the door. After doing so she smiled as the red definitely looked better than the plain brown door. Maybe Leo would keep it up even after Christmas.

She headed back in and saw Leo putting some pictures up on the window.

"Those are good pictures."

"Mike let me have them; our parents gave them to him before he left for Terra Venture."

"Oh." She nodded and went over handing him the picture that he was reaching for.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"So, how was your day?"

"Talked with some of the animals. What about you?"

"Work, same as it was yesterday."

"Don't worry, you have off tomorrow and I planned something."

Leo turned and looked at her with a smile, "What'd you plan?"

"I'm not telling you, it's a surprise."

"Okay, fine."

"Do you think that Kendrix is going to decorate her place?"

"Probably. You want to help?"

"If she wants it."

Finally down with the pictures Leo stepped back, "Let's go look outside."

The two went and stood in front of the house; there were pictures on the window, garland on the door and some snowflakes on the house itself.

"It looks really good." Maya said leaning into Leo.

"I had great help." He replied putting his arm around her.

Maya smiled up at Leo and then headed back inside grabbing his hand as she went, "Let's look inside now." Leo and Maya had gone on a few dates, but nothing had been made official. She really liked Leo and she loved it the more time she spent with him. She could tell that he liked her too, but she just wasn't sure what was stopping them from moving forward. They would hold hands, he'd put his arm around her, and not that either were wrong because she loved being close to him, but she wanted more. Maybe she should just do it, but then she didn't know when.

Leo felt Maya's hand slip out of his as they entered the house. He knew that he wanted to move forward with her, but at the same time, he didn't want to rush it. He wanted to do it right this time, after a few girlfriends he knew that things needed to be done a certain way in order to get things right later, and he wanted it to be right with Maya. He didn't know why but he'd always felt comfortable with the ex-yellow ranger. She was fun to be around, but she had a serious side that would show when necessary. She also always seemed to know what he needed.

"I'm going to get something to drink okay?" Maya said as she left the room, "Do you want anything?"

"Yeah, can you get me some water?"

"Sure." Maya disappeared into the kitchen and was soon back in the living room with two cups. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Leo took the cup and started drinking, but then soon stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"We forgot the top of the tree."

Maya looked up and saw that it was just empty. "I'll get it." She went back into the kitchen only to realize that she didn't know what she was looking for, so she started bringing the box back towards Leo. "I don't know what it is." She looked up as Leo came up and then reached for a star that was on top.

"Here it is."

"Oh."

"And." Leo leaned down and kissed her. After he pulled away he pointed up, "Mistletoe."

Maya looked up and saw the tiny plant hanging from the ceiling. That was the mistletoe Kendrix had spoken off, she didn't understand everything about it because Kendrix had been on her way to work, but it did make sense now. She set the box down and went over to stand next to Leo once more. He had just put up the star and was now admiring it. "It looks good."

"Thanks."

Leo and Maya looked at each other and once more leaned together to share another kiss. After they leaned back, they smiled and Maya's eyes darting to the ceiling, but there was no plant. "I hoped we wouldn't always need a plant to kiss."

"No, I think we're good."

The two watched the tree for a bit longer before settling down on the couch to just talk to each other.


End file.
